Equity mutual fund inflows jump 55% in March; AUM falls on market correction

Equity mutual fund inflows jump over 55% in March; AUM falls on market correction

Mutual funds see sharp rise in March equity inflows even as total AUM falls, AMFI data highlights market volatility and investor appetite across categories.

By Anshul

Mutual fund flows in March showed a sharp rise in equity inflows even as overall assets under management (AUM) declined month-on-month, according to data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI).

Net equity inflows stood at ₹40,366 crore in March, up 55.5% from ₹25,965 crore in February. The increase indicates higher participation across equity-oriented schemes during the month.

However, total mutual fund AUM fell to ₹73.73 lakh crore in March from ₹82.03 lakh crore in February, a decline of about 10.1% month-on-month. Market volatility and a broad-based correction in equities weighed on overall asset values.

Within equity categories, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recorded strong inflows of ₹19,802 crore in March compared with ₹4,487 crore in February. Gold ETFs saw inflows of ₹2,266 crore versus ₹5,255 crore in the previous month.

Sectoral and thematic funds reported inflows of ₹2,699 crore, slightly lower than ₹2,987.3 crore in February, while dividend yield funds posted inflows of ₹59.2 crore compared with ₹21.2 crore earlier.

On the debt and hybrid side, liquid funds saw outflows of ₹1.34 lakh crore in March against inflows of ₹59,077.4 crore in February.

Corporate bond funds recorded outflows of ₹15,292.6 crore, compared with ₹2,302 crore in the previous month. Credit risk funds also saw outflows of ₹329.66 crore versus ₹94.2 crore in February, while ELSS funds recorded outflows of ₹437.3 crore compared with ₹650 crore in the previous month.

Market participants noted that the decline in AUM was largely linked to weaker market performance during March, rather than redemption pressure. Separately, liquid fund outflows were attributed to year-end rebalancing activities.

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